By David Farmer,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Party voters – at least a few of them – will decide today who they want to carry their political banner this fall.

The most heated race is at the top of the Republican ticket. The GOP will pick between three hopefuls. Former U.S. Rep. Dave Emery, state Sen. Peter Mills and state Sen. Chandler Woodcock are vying for the chance to take the Blaine House out of Democratic hands.

On the other side, Democratic incumbent Gov. John Baldacci faces a long-shot challenge from Chris Miller, who has based his campaign largely around a theme of energy independence.

Democrats also must decide between Jean Hay Bright, a Dixmont farmer and political activist, and Eric Mehnert, an Orono civil rights attorney, for the party’s nomination to challenge incumbent U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican.

Despite a poor showing for President George W. Bush in the state and his sagging popularity here, Snowe remains overwhelmingly popular and wins a lot of state and national attention as a moderate. She has a war chest of more than $2 million and approval ratings at or above 70 percent, depending on the poll.

Neither Hay Bright nor Mehnert are likely to match her fundraising, but both believe they can lead a grassroots effort to uproot the incumbent.

Hay Bright ran for the U.S. House in 1994 and the Senate in 1996, losing in the Democratic primary both times. Mehnert is less well-known within the party. In 2004, he traveled to Ohio where, for two months, he worked for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry as part of a voters’ rights project. Neither Hay Bright nor Mehnert has held elective office before.

Local races

Down the ballot, voters in the Sun Journal’s readership area also will have the opportunity to vote in four contested primaries for the Legislature.

In Senate District 15, which includes Auburn, Durham, New Gloucester and Poland, two well-known candidates will face off. Donald Bernard and Ed Desgrosseilliers would like to represent Democrats against incumbent Republican Lois Snowe-Mello, R-Poland.

In Senate District 21, two heavyweights are battling it out for the Democratic nod. Former state Rep. Harvey DeVane and Gardiner Mayor Brian Rines are looking to make the race against Republican state Rep. Earle McCormick, R-West Gardiner, for the seat left open by the retirement of state Sen. Scott Cowger, D-Hallowell. The district includes Chelsea, Farmingdale, Gardiner, Hallowell, Litchfield, Manchester, Monmouth, Pittston, Randolph, West Gardiner and Winthrop.

There are also two House seats with Republican primaries.

In House District 80, Randall Greenwood is running against George Thomson for a chance at a rematch with incumbent state Rep. Nancy Smith, D-Monmouth. Greenwood ran against Smith two years ago and came close to winning. He is the owner of Mixers bar in Sabattus. Thomson is a retired Air Force colonel and chemistry teacher. The district includes Wales, Litchfield and Monmouth.

Three Republicans are running in House District 91: Nancy Bessey, Mark Egeberg and Harry Faulkner. Bessey is a retired energy company executive and businesswoman; Egeberg is a pilot for American Eagle out of Boston; and Faulkner is a retired businessman and the former owner of The Backstage Lounge bar and restaurant in Bethel. The 91st District is huge, encompassing parts of Franklin and Oxford County and including Eustis, Kingfield, Rangeley, Dallas Plantation, Bethel, Gilead, Hanover, Newry, Stoneham, Upton, Woodstock, Lincoln Plantation, Magalloway Plantation and several unorganized territories.

The Democratic candidate is Timothy Carter. State Rep. Arlan Jodrey, R-Bethel, was term-limited.

In other local districts, unchallenged candidates will stand alone on the ballot.